St. Louis Irish
Confederates

Come all you that hold true communion
with southern Confederates bold,I will tell you of some men who for the Union in the
northern ranks were enrolled;Who came to Missouri in their glory, and thought by
their power we´d be dismayed;But we soon made them tell a different story when
they met with Kelly´s Irish Brigade.

Chorus:

Three cheers for the Irish
BrigadeThree
cheers for the Irish Brigade.And all true-hearted
HiberniansIn
the ranks of Kelly´s Irish Brigade!

Verse Two:

You call us rebels and traitors,
but yourselves have thrown off that name of late.You were called it by the English
invaders at home in seventeen and ninety-eight.The name to us is not a new one,
though ´tis one that never will degradeAny true-hearted Hibernian in the ranks of Kelly´s
Irish Brigade

Chorus:

Three cheers for the Irish
BrigadeThree cheers
for the Irish Brigade.And all true-hearted HiberniansIn the ranks of Kelly´s Irish
Brigade!

Verse Three:

You dare not call us invaders, ´tis
but State's rights and liberties we ask;And Missouri, we ever will defend her, no matter how
hard be the task.Then let true Irishmen assemble; let the voice of Missouri be
obeyed;And northern
fanatics may tremble when they meet with Kelly´s Irish Brigade

ChorusThree cheers for the Irish BrigadeThree cheers for the Irish
Brigade.And all
true-hearted HiberniansIn the ranks of Kelly´s Irish Brigade!

This page is dedicated to the
memory of Gaylord Patrick O'Connor, (1916-1994) who was a
longtime member of the Sterling Price Camp, No. 145 and "the driving
spirit behind the Missouri Division". Pat, a former combat infantry
officer of WWII, earned both the French and Belgian Croix de Guerre
(Cross of War). A veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, he was a soldier
of the highest character.

Father John B. Bannon

and the St. Louis Irish
ConfederateS

By S. K. Williams

Father John B. Bannon, known for being the "Fighting
Chaplain" of the Missouri Brigade not only served as a Pastor, but as a soldier
and a secret agent for the South. Even though Confederate General Sterling Price
declared that Father John B. Bannon was the "greatest soldier I ever
saw", he is relatively unknown to most modern Missourians. Who was
he and where did he come from ? He was born 29 Dec 1829 in Roosky,
Ireland. He grew up near the Shannon river in the County Roscommon in
west-central Ireland. Not much is known about his family except that his
mother's maiden name was O'Farrell and he was the grandson of Henry Sanford
Pageman Mahon. By the time he enrolled (27 August 1847) in the "Royal College of
St. Patrick" at Maynooth (County Kildare), only his father and a brother were
living. This was a time of the "Potato Famine", where nearly a million Irish
men, women, and children died.

Ordained a priest in May of 1853, Father Bannon volunteered to immigrate to
America to serve the thousands of Irish who came to the New World. By September
of that year, Bannon arrived by steamboat to St. Louis, Missouri. Father
Bannon first served as assistant pastor at what we now call, "The old
Cathedral", which was the main Catholic Church at the time. The primary pastor was Rev. Patrick J. Ryan,
. This church, an Irish congregation was attacked by mobs in August of
1854, as had also the Jesuit St. Louis University, Catholic and Irish
residences across the city. Many of the Irish community in St. Louis were living
in utter poverty of the "Kerry Patch", an Irish ghetto in North St. Louis (named
after County Kerry in Ireland). St. Louis, like many of city, was ripe
with anti-Irish discrimination and anti-Catholic prejudice. Part of this
hatred was due to the rise of the "Know-Nothing" political party, but was much
more widespread than those belonging to this political
philosophy.

Battle Flag of Missouri
Confederate

Troops

(bearing the latin cross was sewn by the ladies
of New
Orleans)

In addition, the growing German population of the
city, which composed of many refugees from the failed 1848 "Peasant Revolution"
of Germany, was for the most part anti-Catholic, which translated to being
also "anti-Irish". The "free thinking" ex-revolutionaries or "green party"
Germans as they were commonly known, formed social clubs that were considered by
some to be a replacement for church. This pitted them against the "grays"
(Germans that were mostly Catholic and conservative Lutherans). It was
kind of a "Civil war" but confined to rhetoric. The "greens" were mainly
those that arrived after 1848, so they were less Americanized than their earlier
counterparts and more likely to be pro-Union. Many
had previous encounters with Catholic Germans of the old country, so it
was hard for them to see eye-to-eye with Irish Catholics. Likewise, the Irish
community was not only losing jobs and political influence to these German
speaking neighbors but were also seeing another growing threat prior to the
war--- the massive militarization of the German "Wide
Awake" militias under the direction of Missouri Senator Frank Blair. The
leadership of the German community was decidedly Pro-Union and in favor of a
powerful Federal government. Many of their leaders ("Forty-eighters") came
to the United States after the Karl Marx influenced "Peasant
revolution" of 1848 failed to install a centralized government in
Germany. So it was natural when the Republican party began advocating a
strong Federal Government, the German community rallied behind them. [Note: Karl
Marx had an influence on the 1848 Revolution but the Germans revolutionaries
were not all socialist, infact the majority were not.]

The
majority of the Democratic Irish of St. Louis openly
supported the Confederate cause, mainly
because they opposed a strong centralized government like what they were under
in the British Empire. They had seen the oppression that a totalitarian
government could and would impose on their freedom. Many Irish in St. Louis and
across Missouri fully accepted the principles of "States Rights" and were
willing to die for them. Like the majority of Missourians, Irish St.
Louisians wanted to remain neutral and left alone by these nationalistic
"Hessian" militias.

"Armed neutrality", was
the Missouri State maxim of the day and was quite popular with St. Louis' Irish.
There was an active Fenian movement in St. Louis, or exiled Irishmen seeking
military experience to one day return to Ireland and to regain their emerald
isle from the English.

Of the militia units at
the annual Missouri Volunteer Militia encampment ("Camp Jackson") at Lindell's
Grove, north of the city in early May 1861, at least four were nearly entirely
Irish. These were, and many of the others had significant Irish. These were the
Emmett Guards, commanded by Capt. Philip Coyne; the Washington Blues,
by Capt. Joseph Kelly; the Washington Guards, by Capt. Patrick Gorman,
and an artillery battery, "Guibor's Battery" ,under the command of Lt.
Henry Guibor. High Irish enlistment also made up the a large percentage of the
Minute Men Militia, commanded by Capt. Colton Greene and St. Louis
Grays, by Capt. Martin Burke and a number of other units.

The intrusion of
Irish neighborhoods, on the eve of May 10, 1861, by the German militia headed by
a New England officer, Nathaniel Lyon outraged the Irish community that settled
in the northern part of the City. The complete surrounding of Camp Jackson and
the capture of the Irish militias (along with those of American born Missouri
militias), polarized St. Louis to an intense degree. The presence of growing
native Irish and American born crowds grew as the Camp Jackson spectacle became
known. Men armed with shotguns, pistols, brickbats, stones shouted and
threatened the "Hessian" militias. Even women joined the protests, while the
cautious closed the shutters and sought refuge in the basements.

During the march of the prisoners
through the Irish and Southern neighborhoods, the German troops were constantly
heckled, spit upon, and rocks and bricks thrown at them. One man on the sideline
who made a threatening gesture was bayoneted to death. A shot was fired and a
prominent Prussian officer was shot dead off his horse. The German militias,
terrified by the outnumbering hostile masses that were pushing in on the column
from the sides. They fired a wild volley here and there. At least a hundred
civilians were wounded or killed on the spot, men, women, and children. A
handful of the prisoners and German militia were also killed or wounded. This
became known as the Camp Jackson massacre and the St. Louis Irish would never
forget. Even those of staunch Union affiliations were outraged over the public
show and use of force on a legal encampment of State militia and innocent
civilians.

Even staunchly Union men among those at
Camp Jackson were incensed over the Federal action at Camp. Elihu H. Shephard, a
native of Vermont, Mexican war veteran and would later serve in the Union
militia was one of Lyon's sharpest critics of that day. Shephard was among
his old "regiment" of the St. Louis Gray Militia at Camp Jackson which he called
nothing but a "camp of instruction". Shephard recalling the event, in his
autobiography, "This outrage was not perpetrated without other atrocious acts of
violence committed within a few yards of me, by which about thirty innocent
persons lost their lives, under that false plea, "military necessity", by order
of a malicious, dogmatical officer, who delighted in carnage and blood, and
could find no other way but this of gratifying his evil propensity. We were
closely guarded, and I occupied a position in the line of prisoners most
favorable to observe and hear the whole transaction."

Following the invasion of Camp Jackson (near the
Irish part of the city), the German militias fired upon a crowd of citizens in
the streets, and Federal control of the city made neutrality no longer an
option. Throughout the rest of the day and the following, the city of St. Louis
was in riot (at least portions occupied by the Irish and Southern populations).

"Southern men, ragged and
starving, were fighting for the protection of their
homes." --Father John B.
Bannon

Many of the Irish of the city fled South and joined up
with Sterling Price's Army near the Arkansas border. Father Bannon writing home
to St. Louis early in the war, recorded, "Some regiments have Catholic
chaplains, the number of Catholics being so many as to give them the majority in
the election. Other regiments are entirely Catholic--Louisiana, Hibernian,
Irish and French in Price's Army...about 1500 Catholics [under my care] trusting
as I do on the voluntary gifts of the Catholics whom I serve...". Open
recruitment in St. Louis became no longer possible, the city was put under
martial law, and newspaper reports became censored. St. Lousians trickled
down to join Confederate ranks in not only Price's command but also in Arkansas,
Kentucky, and Tennessee regiments. It is for this reason that the St. Louis
Confederate Irish were never organized into their own regiments, but spread out
over many different units. In addition, an accurate total number of Irish
recruits from St. Louis is not possible, especially since there are no complete
set of rosters for the State in existence. Maj. William Clark Kennerly (nephew
of Gen. Wm. Clark, the explorer of "Lewis & Clark" fame), who served
in the Confederate army, wrote that 5,000 St. Louisans went South after the war
began. A fair rough estimate would be that atleast 1,000 to 2,000 of these were
Irish St. Louisans. [Note: Some rosters have been reconstructed, please see our "St. Louis Confederate Units"
page]

Those that remained behind supported the southern cause
in any way they could. This wasn't easy because the Federals had secret police,
known as "detectives" stationed everywhere in the city. These detectives
could be a servant in a home or a vendor on the street. Simply by trying to
discourage another neighbor from joining the Union army, if caught could send
one to prison. Criticizing the way the war was being fought was another
treasonable offense. This is why there was so many political prisoners among the
POWs and why it was dangerous to be an outspoken Democrat in St. Louis.
Furthermore, it wasn't easy making one's way out of the city, which was under
martial law, as the roads were all guarded by Federal troops. Maj. Kennerly only
made it out by outwitting guards that he and his couple companions were only
going on a fishing trip south of the city for the day.

Then
there was the problem of avoiding the Union draft. Few Irish in St. Louis wanted
to enlist and they had a unique way in avoiding it. Although they hated the
English occupation of Ireland, they now were experiencing the Yankee occupation
of St. Louis. Those that were born in Ireland could claim British citizenship
(and the protection from the draft by the British government). So
hundreds of them applied for this protection and obtained resident amnesty under
the St. Louis British Consulate office. Union officials knew the scam but they
could not violate international law. These St. Louis Irish (that claimed to be
British subjects) were closely watched and were considered "disloyal" as if they
were pro-Confederates.

From the State of Missouri, uniquely Irish Confederate
units included Capt. Joseph Kelly's "Fighting Irish" (Company F, 5th MO.
Infantry) and Capt. Ephraim V. Kelly's battery known as "Kelly’s Irish Light
Artillery". It is not certain if any of the members of this second unit came
from St. Louis or not. These units and the rest of the Missouri Brigade were
considered "the South's finest" in fighting ability. When it came to hold a
difficult position or to charge a formidable force, the elite Missouri brigade
was frequently a commander's preferred pick. Father John Bannon who ministered
to these brave men, was a man cut from the same cloth. Archbishop Patrick J.
Ryan, in 1884 when leaving St. John Church in St. Louis (founded by Father John
Bannon), tenderly expressed his affection for Father Bannon, who was his
personal friend. Ryan, stated, "He built this church, and having completed it,
and being so deeply attached to it, as a priest will be to a church for which he
has begged and for which he fought, loving it tenderly, and loving it with that
great heart of his, sacrificed all, and without hesitation left everything;
because he heard that there were Catholic young men of the city in the
Confederate Army without a chaplain to minister to them who might fall in battle
at any moment. He risked his life crossing the lines, was for a time pursued,
but with the same high motive and sense of duty and self-sacrificing charity for
the young men whom he knew and loved, he made this sacrifice and left an
imperishable record of his personal courage and devotion to the great cause.
Twice did the Commanding General order him off the field, and threaten him with
arrest because he did not keep within the proper lines when someone had fallen
among the rushing balls in the midst of the greatest danger. His heart I am sure
is with us tonight."

For
the first year of the war there was no Irish Union regiment that could be
recruited from the city. Union officials were alarmed at the direction the war
was going. It had by all appearances an ethnic war--the Irish vs. the Germans.
Some renegade St. Louis Irish
did enlist in the Union Army (8th Missouri Volunteer Infantry USA "Fighting Irish Zouaves") and fought their St. Louis neighbors on the battlefield. No doubt some
families had family members in both armies. Those who fought for
the Union were offered large bounties and other favors for enlisting in an
unholy war on brothers. However, Federal recruiters could not find enough
Missouri Irish to fill the ranks of the "Fighting Irish Zouaves". Large
numbers of Irish were recruited in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio and brought to
Missouri. That's how St. Louis was able to field an Irish regiment for the
Union, there was absolutely no other way.

Nationally, the Irish were
bearing the brunt of being Union "cannon fodder". Union recruiters were going as
far as Ireland to enlist men for the Army. As soon as they arrived off the ship,
they were given the security of pay, regular food, and a nice new uniform. But
thousands of these men would never again see Ireland or even New York again.
They were slaughtered in a war in which many had no interest in fighting. Father
John Bannon seeing this, following the fall of
Vicksburg, knew he had to save "Irish souls by keeping them out of such a
devil's scheme to crush the Southern people". Joining Bishop Patrick
Neison Lynch (son of Conlaw Peter Lynch and Eleanor MacMahon Neison; b. 1817
County Monaghan, Ireland) of South Carolina, Bannon became an emissary to
Ireland and secret agent of the Confederacy. Father Bannon and Bishop Lynch met
with Irish clergy congregations, and even Pope Pius IX (who was sympathetic with
the Southern People). The Pope appropriately addressed President Jefferson
Davis in his letter as "The Illustrious and Honorable Jefferson Davis, President
of the Confederate States of America." Father Bannon's successful efforts
greatly reduced by over two-thirds the number of Irishmen entering Union
ranks. By early 1864, the people of Ireland. Bannon reported, "sympathized
with the South, the priesthood advocated the Southern cause, ...and should the
...Confederate recruiting officers be allowed to enter the field of competition
for recruits...the Southern cause would attract four-fifths of the
material."

"We who were all praying for the
North at the opening of the war, would willingly fight for the South if we
could get there." --General consensus of the Irish people reported
by Father Bannon while in serving in
Ireland.

In a Handbill Father Bannon
circulated:

It is well authenticated that many an
Irish Emigrant on landing at the other side of the Atlantic, is set up, cajoled,
and enticed away, to swell the ranks of the Federal Army. The moment that an
Emigrant Ship reaches the port of America, the unpretending Emigrant, full of
warm and friendly feelings to the Country, is persuaded by interested Agents to
declare his intention to become a Citizen (as they term it, a Real American);
after his declaration being made, according to the late Act of Congress, he
comes under the CONSCRIPTION LAW.

And no alternative is left. He becomes
a SOLDIER. In 48 hours he is landed in the Swamps of Carolinas, or on the Sand
Bars of Charleston. There to imbrue his hands in THE BLOOD OF HIS
COUNTRYMEN, and fight for a people that has the greatest antipathy to his birth
and creed.

Let Irishmen remember the
fate of MEAGHER's Brigade, on the bloody field of Fredericksburg, 5,000 strong !
Now no more; and were refused permission to reorganize; some of the New York
Papers stating that they could afford to lose a few thousand of the scum of the
Irish."

"And the green flags lie torn on
many a battle-field, and the bones of those who were to liberate Ireland
whiten the plains of the continent from Galveston to the Potomac. It is
pity to them; yet; they deserved their fate. They were prompt to carry
fire and sword into the peaceful abodes of a people who had never wronged
them..." --Richmond Enquirer, 21 Nov 1863 (concerning Irish serving in Union
ranks)

"Kelly's Irish
Brigade"

("Washington Blues" Missouri Volunteer
Militia)

One prominent Irish immigrant, Joseph
Kelly was a Irish immigrant having served in the British Army then later
became a St. Louis grocer before to the war (1861-1865). In 1857, he
started the "Washington Blues" militia which was considered the finest militia
unit of the city. (Money collected from spectators while the unit drilled was
donated to Fr. John Bannon who operated the "Catholic Total Abstinence and
Benevolence Society". In time, they contributed a major source funds which
Father Bannon could build "St. John the Apostle and Evangelist" Church, in
St. Louis.) "Kelly's Brigade" refers to the prewar State militia units of St.
Louis that which had pro-southern sympathies. These were rich with
both Irish and Scots-Irish, who united in the common cause of defending their
native from outside invaders. Kelly's original, the "Washington Blues" militia,
had the highest concentration of Irish Catholic recruits. It first saw action on
the Kansas frontier with Missouri in late 1860. It's first major
engagement was at Carthage and Wilson's Creek where it served in the 6th
division of the Missouri State Guard. Joseph Kelly wounded at
Wilson's Creek but had recovered enough to see action at the Battle of
Lexington. Following this, the unit went with Sterling Price into Arkansas
where they participated in the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern (Pea Ridge). After this
engagement, the men transferred to regular Confederate service in the 1st and
many to Company F "The Fighting Irish" of the 5th Missouri Infantry
CSA.

"At them boys ! At them!
For the honor of Old Ireland ! " -- Battle cry of one Irish St. Louisan of
Cockrell's Confederate Brigade at Battle of Champion's Hill,
Mississippi

Capt. Patrick Canniff

Very soon after serving as Captain of Company F,
Kelly was promoted to a Colonel serving on Gen. Mosby M. Parson's staff.
Captain Patrick Canniff replaced Kelly as commander of Company
F. Only a very small handful of this company ever returned back to St.
Louis. Company F for instance, lost 70% of their number in the battle at
Corinth, Mississippi. Here they were faced off against renegade Unionist Irish
of St. Louis under command of Col. Patrick E. Burke. Irish fighting Irish,
St. Louisans fighting St. Louisans. The Irish Missouri Confederates never lost
faith that they were on the side of true justice and honor. Both Burke and
Canniff would later be killed in the war on the same year, 1864. The
overwhelming majority men of Company F may be buried on some lonely battlefield,
but their families back in St. Louis never forgot them.

One soldier, a Lt. Warren, recorded an episode
where Company F, under Capt. Caniff saw intense action at the Battle of Kennesaw
Mountain (27 Jun 1864). "Those of us that were sleeping late this morning
(having been on picket three consecutive days) were aroused by the most terrific
outburst of artillery that the enemy has yet treated us to. Every gun that
could reach us was brought to bear on Little Kennesaw. We knew what the
shelling foreboded--every man sprang to his arms--Caniff shouted for each to
take his place in the trenches, and in a moment all was ready. I shall
always wonder how I got safely across the bald mountain top, through the flying
mass of shells and fragments of rock."

"The artillery soon slackened its fire and we could hear
the volleys delivered by our skirmishers as they met the first line of the
enemy. Poor fellows !--few of them could get back up that rugged mountain side
in time to save themselves. In a few minutes the enemy made their appearance, a
solid line of blue emerging from the woods, a hundred yards below us. We
gave them a volley that checked them where they stood. As this line was
melting away under our steady fire, another pressed forward and reached the foot
of the mountain. Behind this came yet another line, but our fire was so steady
and accurate that they could not be induced to advance, through their officers
could be plainly seen trying to urge them up the hill. Then came another column,
the heaviest that had yet appeared, which made the final, as well as the most
determined assault, and which stood their ground longer than the others. Some of
these men came twenty or thirty yards up the side of the mountain, but they were
nearly all shot down, which deterred the others from following. Our men shot
with unusual accuracy, because they had the low stone breastworks, which we had
constructed with so much labor, on which to rest their
guns."

"In three-fourths of an hour the attack was over and the
Federals were gone, leaving large numbers of their dead lying at the bottom of
the hill. I never saw our boys behave with greater coolness and courage. The
enemy renewed and kept up their shelling until night, which was most efficiently
and gallantly replied to by the batteries of Bledsoe and Guibor." (Guibor
battery was another St. Louis unit that served in the Confederate Missouri
Brigade)

Sharing Coffee with Yankees

At another time (28 May 1864) in a much more friendly
encounter with Federal troops, Lt. Warren records, "Just after dark firing
ceased on the line. A Yankee vidette called out to our vidette to come over and
get a cup of coffee. Private Dan Monahan answered and said he would go if they
would promise to let him come back. The promise was made and Monahan went over
to their pits and shared their hard-tack and coffee. He made an exchange of some
tobacco for Northern papers, and was just preparing to start back when an
officer came up. Monahan's presence being explained to him, he told the
venturesome Irishman to go back and ask the officer in charge of our skirmishers
to meet him half-way between the lines, as he wished to arrange for the removal
of two of our dead that were lying close to his skirmish pits. Monahan returned
with his message, and when the signal was given, Capt. Caniff went out and met
the officer. They had arranged that matter and were just commencing to
talk on other topics, when suddenly a heavy fire was opened by the
Mississippians on our left. They thought the enemy were advancing, their
skirmishers ran in and volley after volley was fired from the main works. This
idea seemed to to take possession of the armies, for the fire was opened on both
sides with musketry and artillery and extended along the the whole front for
miles. Our Brigade was the only one, I do believe, that was not affected
by the general scare; they did not fire a shot, for they knew where the enemy
were before them. The Yankee in our front, however, were affected like the
rest.

"Caniff and the Yankee officer had to shelter themselves
behind a tree until the heaviest volleys were over. They then separated. Caniff
got safely in; we don't know how the other fared in getting back to his line.
The regiment opposing us was the seventh Illinois, and Monahan says they are
'devilish good fellows'. Both armies were on the alert the balance of the night,
each thinking the other meant a night attack."

The Death of Capt. Patrick Caniff

Due to his battlefield valor, Patrick Caniff was put in
command of the combined regiments of the third and fifth Missouri Infantry
at the Battle of Franklin (Tennessee). [Due to thinning ranks, the regiments
were combined]. This was a battle of many unfortunate horrors for the Missouri
Brigade. Many of the men have marched shoeless in cold sub-zero weather,
with scant clothing, and meager rations. At Franklin, the Missourians were
ordered to make a frontal charge against a well entrenched enemy. After the
battle was over the entire Missouri Brigade had lost nearly two-thirds of its
men. A disastrous lost, comparable to the loss of the British Light Brigade at
Balaklava. .

On Dec 1 1864, Lt. Warren writes, "When daybreak did
come, and the fog and smoke of battle was lifted like a curtain, such a
spectacle as this field of death presented to our eyes, I hope I may never
witness again. Here, indeed, was a Carnival of Death. There must
have been three thousand stiffened corpses lying in this little space, in full
view. There may have been many more, I am sure there were no less. In may
places, they were in heaps, the ditch around the works, in some places, was
filled with dead. Numbers lay where they fell, on top and on the sides of the
embankment, and a few were found inside the works, shot and
bayoneted."

"I found poor Caniff and Wat Marnell; the former close
up to the breastworks, the dead body of his horse being near by...Capt. Caniff
was knocked from his horse by a shot in the right shoulder, and it must have
been while lying on the ground, that he was struck in the top of the head, the
ball coming out under the chin. My heart bled when I first stood over the rigid
form of Lieutenant Crow; he was a kind, true friend and a perfect gentleman, as
gentle and modest as a woman, and yet as brave as the bravest." [Lt. Wayman
Crow, also of Co F, 5th Mo Infantry].

Note: Cannif is spelled both with two "nn"s or with one
"n" depending on various sources.

Capt. Arthur McCoy,

St. Louis' "Wild Irishman" of Shelby's
Cavalry

Arthur McCoy was one of the early leaders of the pro-secessionist "Minute
Men" Militia in St. Louis. He along with four others (Rock Champion, Colton
Greene, Basil W. Duke, and James Quinlan) early on March 4th 1861 had climbed
the Federal courthouse of St. Louis, removed the U.S. Flag, and replaced it with
the Missouri State flag. At the secessionist headquarters of the city, the
Berthold mansion (located at corner of Fifth and Pine Streets) they flew
what has been called by some eyewitnesses as a "Confederate flag". However
according to descriptions of the flag, this was not any flag being flown by the
Confederacy. Colton Greene describes it as "a nondescript conceit--a red field,
emblazoned with a white cross, star and crescent--made by Arthur McCoy's wife."
Some sources have indicated that this flag was raised more for the purpose of a
gag not anything to have been serious. Perhaps it was to taunt Gen. Lyon into
doing something (they would not have to wait long since Camp Jackson was
captured by Lyon on May 10 of that same year.)

Capt. Arthur McCoy is best known for his service in the Confederate Cavalry
but he did fight at Shiloh in the Missouri Infantry. On several occasions he
rode into St. Louis fully armed, delivering the mail to the ladies of the city.
On one occasion, he forced a Yankee Major, at gun point, to dance to the
tune of Dixie and on the same journey through St. Louis, challenged a Federal
soldier, acting as a pickett at Benton Barracks, to a duel. To read more about
these events, please visit our page on "Price's Last Raid". During Price's 1864 raid, originally planned to invade St. Louis, Capt.
McCoy rode in the vanguard of J. O. Shelby's cavalry and it is very likely he
entered St. Louis county to gather military intelligence. During this same raid,
McCoy fought alongside Jesse James at the Battle of Westport along the Big Blue
river in western Missouri. (see above link for more on this).

Father Patrick John Ryan"Spiritual Advisor of the Confederate
POW"

Father Patrick John Ryan was born Feb 20, 1831
in the town of Thurles of County Tipperary, Ireland. After his study at St.
Patrick's College, Father Ryan arrived in St. Louis in 1852. Father Ryan was the
Vicar General of St. Louis and Pastor of the "Old St. Louis Cathedral". In 1860
he helped create the Church of the Annunciation as well as the neighboring
parochial school. It was under Father Ryan that John B. Bannon served as
assistant pastor. Father Ryan was a known Southern sympathizer, but instead of
leaving St. Louis to go into the Confederate Army, he was appointed by
Archbishop Peter Richard Kenrick to be "spiritual adviser" for Confederate POWs
at Gratiot Street Prison. He refused a federal commission to be prison
Chaplain, as it would decrease his effectiveness to be a "Federal" in his POW
ministry. He was also supportive of the ladies of the Confederate Aid
Society as well as the secret Confederate mail network of the city.
Following the war, Father Ryan transferred to the Church of St. John the
Evangelist where he served until 1884, when he departed for Pennsylvania. His
departure from St. Louis was a sad occassion to all that knew him, Confederate
veterans Catholic and non-Catholic alike. Known as a great orator, Father
Patrick J. Ryan later became Archbishop of Philadelphia.

Father Patrick J. Ryan's parish church, the
Basilica of St. Louis IX, King of France, more commonly called the "Old Cathedral" sits today near the base of the Gateway Arch in
downtown St. Louis. Originally a French
congregation, it later became dominated by St. Louis Irish.

Father Abram J. Ryan

"The Poet Priest of the
Confederacy"

Born, 5 August, 1839 Hagerstown,
Maryland;

Died at Louisville, Kentucky, 22 April,
1886.

Father A. J. Ryan, like Father Bannon, served as a
Chaplain in the Confederate Army. Although not born in Ireland, he was the son
of Irish immigrants (Matthew Ryan and Mary Coughlin of Clonmell, Ireland). As a
young child he moved to St. Louis where he was educated at Christian
Brothers' Cathedral School, located immediately adjacent to the McDowell Medical
College that would later become known as the infamous Gratiot Street Prison
where Confederate POWs were held. In preparation for the priesthood, Abram
first attended St. Mary's of the Barrens Seminary in Perryville, Missouri. Later
he went away to Niagara Falls, New York to attend Our Lady of Angels Seminary.
After returning to St. Louis, Abram became ordained at priest on Sep 20, 1860.
Due to health problems, and with prior commitments in both New York and
Missouri, Father Ryan did not join the Confederate cause until September 1862
even though from the beginning he was an ardent Confederate. In 1863, his
younger brother (David Ryan), also a Confederate, was killed on the
battlefield and which "deeply affected" him throughout his remaining life. He
wrote the poems, "In Memory of My Brother", and "In Memoriam"about his beloved
brother.

At the wars end Abram was serving as a Confederate
chaplain in Augusta, Georgia. Remaining in Georgia for a number of years in post
war days, Abram worked as a pastor and writing his poetry. His master piece,
"The Sword of Lee" after being put to music was sung in southern homes for
generations. Always on the move, Ryan served as a priest in Nashville,
Knoxville, Clarksville (Tennessee) as well as Mobile, New Orleans and Macon
(Georgia). As far as it is known, he never returned to St. Louis to stay for any
duration. He worked in efforts to help southern children that were orphaned as a
result of the war as well as assisting widows of Confederate soldiers. He gave
lecture tours in Mexico, Canada and throughout the United States to drum up
support for the relief of southern victims of recurrent plagues. In Mobile,
Alabama he served as assistant of the Cathedral and as a bishop's
secretary. In retirement, Father Ryan moved to Biloxi, Mississippi where he
developed an intimate friendship with Jefferson Davis who lived in nearby
Beauvoir. In his final days of life, Father Abram Ryan visited
the Franciscan monastery in Louisville, Kentucky. It was here he died on Apr 22,
1886. He was buried in Mobile, "where a monument has been erected by the
children of the South through a dime collection which the Mobile Register
newspaper promoted."

Father Abram Ryan was loved throughout
the South for his service and writings. TheCatholic Encyclopedia
(1913) states, "In the hour of defeat he won the heart of the entire South by
his poem, Conquered Banner...Within the limits of the Southern
Confederacy and the Catholic Church in the United States, no poet was more
popular. After the war he exercised the ministry in New Orleans, and was editor
of The Star, a Catholic weekly; later he founded The Banner of
the South in Augusta, Georgia, a religious and political weekly; then
he retired to Mobile. In 1880 he lectured in several Northern cities. As a
pulpit orator and lecturer, he was always interesting and ... brilliant. As a
man he had a subtle, fascinating nature, full of magnetism when he saw fit to
exert it; as a priest, he was full of tenderness, gentleness, and
courage."

"The Prayer
of the South"

by Father Abram J. Ryan (published 24 Jun
1865)

"My brow is bent beneath a heavy rod;
Mv face is wan and white with many woes;
But I will lift my poor chained hands to
God And for my children pray, and for my
foes. Beside the graves where thousands
lowly lie l kneel, and, weeping for each
slaughtered son, I turn my gaze to my own
sunny sky, And pray, O Father, may thy
will be done.

My heart is filled with anguish, deep and
vast; My hopes are buried with my
children's dust; My joys have fled, my
tears are flowing fast— In whom save thee,
our Father, shall I trust? Ah! I forgot
thee, Father, long and oft, When I was
happy, rich and proud and free; But,
conquered now and crushed, I look aloft, And sorrow leads me, Father, back to thee.

Amid the wrecks that mark the foeman's path
I kneel, and, wailing o'er my glories
gone, I still each thought of hate, each
throb of wrath, And whisper, Father, let
thy will be done. Pity me, Father of the
desolate. Alas, my burdens are so hard to
bear; Look down in mercy on my wretched
fate, An˘l keep me, guard me, with thy
loving care.

Pity me, Father, for His holy sake
Whose broken heart bled at the feet of
grief That hearts of earth, wherever they
shall break, Might go to his and find a
sure relief. Ah me, how dark! Is this a
brief eclipse? Or is it night, with no
to-morrow's sun ? O Father! Father! with
my pale, sad lips And sadder heart, I
pray, Thy will be done.

My homes are joyless; and a million mourn,
Where many met, in joys forever flown;
Whose hearts are light, are burdened now and
lore; Where many smiled, but one is left
to mourn. And, ah, the widow's wails, the
orphan's cries, Are morning hymn and
vesper chant to me; And groans of men and
sounds of women's signs Commingle, Father,
with my prayer to thee.

Beneath my feet, ten thousand children
dead!— Oh, how I loved each known and
nameless one! Above their dust I bow my
crownless head And murmur, Father, still
thy will be done. Ah. Father, thou didst
deck my own loved land With all bright
charms and beautiful and fair; But the
foeman came and, with ruthless hand, Spread ruin, wreck, and desolation there.

Girdled with gloom of all my brightness
Shorn, And garmented with grief, l kiss
thy rod, And turn my face, with tears all
wet and worn, To catch one smile of pity
from my God. Around me blight, where all
was bloom; And so much lost, alas, and
nothing won -- Save this that I can lean
on wreck and tomb. And weep and, weeping,
pray, Thy will be done.

And, oh, 'tis hard to say, but said, 'tis
sweet; The words are bitter, but they hold
a balm, balm that heals the wounds of my
defeat And lulls my sorrows into holy
calm. lt is the prayer of prayers - and
bow it brings, When heard in heaven, peace
and hope to me! When Jesus prayed it, did
not angels' wings Gleam 'mid the darkness
of Gethsemane.

My children, Father, thy forgiveness need—
Alas, their hearts have only room for
tears— Forgive them, Father, every
wrongful deed, And every sin of those four
bloody years. And give them strength to
bear their boundless loss, And from their
hearts take every thought of hate; And,
while they climb their Calvary with their cross, O help them, Father, to endure its weight.

And for my dead, Father may I pray?
Ah, sighs may soothe, but prayer shall soothe me
more. I keep eternal watch above their
clay— O rest their souls, my Father, I
implore. Forgive my foes—they know not
what they do— Forgive them all the tears
they made me shed; Forgive them, though my
noblest sons they slew, And bless them,
though they curse my poor, dear dead.

O may my woes be each a carrier dove,
With swift, white wings, that, bathing in my
tears, Will bear thee, Father, all my
prayers of love, And bring me peace, in
all my doubts and fears. Father, I kneel,
‘mid ruin, wreck, and grave— A desert
waste where all was erst so fair— And, for
my children and my foes, I crave Pity and
pardon: Father, hear my prayer.

"CSA"

By Father Abram J. Ryan

Do we weep for the heroes who died for
us,

Who living were true and tried for
us, And dying sleep side by side for
us; The Martyr-band
That hallowed our land With the blood they shed in a tide for us?

Ah! fearless on many a day for us,
They stood in front of the fray for us,
And held the foeman at bay for us;
And tears should fall Fore'er o'er all Who fell
while wearing the Gray for us.

How many a glorious name for us,
How many a story of fame for us
They left: Would it not be a blame for
us If their memories part
From our land and heart, And a wrong to them, and shame for us?

No, no, no, they were brave for us,
And bright were the lives they gave for
us; The land they struggled to save for
us Will not forget
Its warriors yet Who sleep in so many a grave for us.

On many and many a plain for us
Their blood poured down all in vain for
us, Red, rich, and pure, like a rain for
us; They bleed -- we weep,
We live -- they sleep, All lost, -- the only refrain for us.

But their memories e'er shall remain for
us, And their names, bright names,
without stain for us; The glory they won
shall not wane for us, In legend and
lay Our heroes in Gray
Shall forever live over again for
us.

Imprisoned Irish-Americans of St.
Louis

These are some of the citizens (all civilians) of the city that were
imprisoned for their political convictions, aiding the Confederate cause in
some manner, or were discouraging fellow Irish from joining the Union Army. A
father or mother sending their son, a "care package" (food, warm gloves, or
socks) if caught could be imprisoned for the duration of the war. These
prisoners, except for the women, were held in the same cells as Confederate
POWs at military prisons
in the St. Louis area (Alton, Ill.; Gratiot Street; or Myrtle Street). The
women listed here were mostly kept on a separate floor at Gratiot, but a few
were held at the other prisons. All these citizens were exposed to
the same cruelties as the Confederate POWs, and many died as a result of
conditions and prison diseases. This was America under the Lincoln regime,
which bragged they could put anyone, "with a ring of the bell", in a place
"where they could not even hear the dogs bark". Only now are the true details
of these crimes against democracy being released.

Below are the names of civilian prisoners that I have identified as Irish.
They are spelled the way the Federals recorded them. I did not include names that were also commonly
non-Irish (like Brown), even though many Irish had surnames that could be also
English or German in origin. There are also some names that could be either of
Irish or Scottish origin, like those prefixed with "Mc", I did not attempt to
sort them out since many of these names were common in both countries.

Gen. Patrick R.
Cleburne

"The Stonewall Jackson of the
West"

***Note:
While Irish Americans were regarded as second class citizens in much of the
North, they found full equality and acceptance in the ranks of the
Confederate Army. In fact, one Irish immigrant, Patrick Ronayne Cleburne who
enlisted in the army as a private, rose to the rank of Major General before
being killed at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee. Cleburne prior to the war was
active in the Democratic party and spoke out against the constitutionality of
"discriminatory legislation against Catholics and
foreigners".

On May 7, 1861 Cleburne stated, "...I
believe the North is about to wage a brutal and unholy war on a people who have
done them no wrong, in violation of the Constitution and the fundamental
principals of the government. They no longer acknowledge that all government
derives it's validity from the consent of the governed. They are about to invade
our peaceful homes, destroy our property, inaugerate a servile insurrection,
murder our men, and dishonor our women. We propose no invasion of the North, no
attack on them and only ask to be left alone." Three days later, Nathaniel
Lyon's federal forces illegally captured the Missouri State Guard at Camp
Jackson in St. Louis, immediately followed by a massacre leaving men women and
children dead. Facing this bleak outlook, Cleburne could have returned to
Ireland but he declared he would stand up for his friends, as they "have stood
up [for] me on all occasions." Cleburne became a hero to generations of Irish
Americans and his statue stands in the American Museum of Immigration at the
abase of the Statue of Liberty.

Copyright 1998, Sterling Price Camp,
No. 145, Sons Of Confederate Veterans. All Rights
ReservedThe
MIDI file used on this webpage, entitled "Kelly's Irish Brigade" was custom made
and is copyrighted,1998 by S. K. Williams, "The
Borderland Collection". All Rights
Reserved.